THE daily $60,000 taxi bill for Canberra’s legion of public servants could soon be slashed, with the federal government considering allowing staff to use UberX for business travel.

More than 150,000 bureaucrats from Commonwealth agencies may soon be given the opportunity to claim back trips using the ride-sharing service, which is about 30 per cent cheaper than taxis.

Finance Minister Matthias Cormann has directed his bean counters to investigate what savings could be made by offering the choice for employees to use UberX, which was legalised by the ACT Government last month.

The tax office is among the biggest users of taxis, paying nearly $4 million for cabs for staff last year and more than $11 million in fares in the past three financial years.

A Department of Finance spokesman told The Daily Telegraph it was canvassing whether the legalisation of Uber was an ­opportunity to reduce the cost of travel for public servants and the staff of parliamentarians within the ACT.

The department would also monitor Uber developments in other jurisdictions, the spokesman said.

Figures presented to Senate estimates show over three months, the Health Department and its portfolio agencies spent about $430,000 on cabs, while the Department of Social Services had booked up $221,000 in four months.